Liveblog: Game 43 – Canadiens comeback earns a point, but they lose in OT

What did we learn?

Brière scored twice and assisted on Brian Gionta's goal, which brought the Canadiens back from a 3-1 deficit before Clarke MacArthur scored a power-play goal 58 seconds into overtime to win it.

Colin Greening scored 13 seconds into the game.

And After Brière tied it 1-1, Ottawa got two in 14 seconds from Mark Stone and Erik Condra to take control.

The Senators had a 34-29 shot advantage.

MacArthur wins it

With the Senators on a power play, patient passing set up Clarke MacArthur for his 14th of the season.

A line is born

Daniel Brière, with his second of the game, and Brian Gionta brought the Canadiens back from 3-1.

And Carey Price kept it at 3-3.

On to OT, with P.K. in the box.

No scoring

Each team had seven shots, the best of which was a Lars Eller backhander Craig Anderson got a pad on.

Michel Therrien juggled his lines: Daniel Brière joined Tomas Plekanec and Brian Gionta, moving Rene Bourque to the Eller-Galchenyuk line and dropping Brandon Prust down with Travis Moen and Michaël Bournival.

Josh Gorges was paired with P.K. Subban and Francis Bouillon dropped down to the third pairing with Douglas Murray.

The Canadiens are 1-12-1 when trailing after 40 minutes,

Brière scores!

Daniel Brière, fresh from a two-game penance in the pressbox, converted a Travis Moen pass to erase the lead Colin Greening gave Ottawa 13 seconds into the game.

The jubilation didn't last long.

A giveaway at the Canadiens blueline sent Mark Stone in alone for his first of the year.

The Canadiens failed to convert both a four-minute advantage and a 5-on-3 that lasted 45 seconds.

Shots were 14-10 for the visitors.

Carey Price wasn't stellar on the Stone goal but made a brilliant late-period save on Bobby Ryan.

Oh, and there's a bat flying around the Bell Centre.

Welcome back

The Canadiens, who haven't played in Montreal since Dec. 17, make their 2014 Bell Centre debut Saturday night against an Atlantic Division rival.

Ottawa, sitting ninth in the Eastern Conference, is nine points behind the Canadiens and has played one more game.

The Senators have scored 13 more goals than the Canadiens – 122-109 – but have allowed an eye-popping 40 more goals-against: 138-98.

You wouldn't have attributed defensive shortcomings to the Senators when the teams met in Ottawa on Nov. 7. Robin Lehner made 33 saves in a 4-1 win, the only Canadiens goal coming from Andrei Markov during a first-period power play.

Ottawa rides a three-game winning streak into the Bell Centre, where the Canadiens are 12-7-2 this season.

Subtext to the game: Max Pacioretty, who has 19 goals this season, will be on the U.S. Olympic team next month. Bobby Ryan, who's scored 18, won't be in Sochi.

Chris Neil and Jason Spezza are out for Ottawa.

Daniel Brière and Alexei Emelin draw back in for the Canadiens. Ryan White is injured and Raphael Diaz is a healthy scratch.

1,007 Comments

All these comments or complaints about officiating, which Habs players aren’t pulling their weight, things not going our way, some weak defensive errors….are pretty much useless to me. The fact is, no matter what the issues, someone has to stop the puck. Players and refs will make mistakes. That’s a given. Every team has some weak players. That’s also a given. BUT, if the goalie makes the stops, none of the above issues stand out as much. As far as I’m concerned, Price should have stopped 3 of those goals. He had a weak game. An elite goalie doesn’t let in as many soft goals as Price does with regularity. How does a goalie who loses the game get a star? If he is our number 1 for the Olympics, we are in trouble. As far as I’m concerned, along with several of my friends, Price never has been as elite goalie and never will. Just because he makes $6.5M does not make him as elite. An elite goalie takes a mediocre team like the Habs and takes them to the top. And that won’t happen. We will see how he does in Sochi but don’t count on any miracles from him unless the team out scores the other teams consistently.

Thoughts on tonight:
1) Habs showed character once more by coming back and forcing OT – previous editions of the Habs would have called it a night. Good to see the culture has indeed changed. Can’t take that away from MB and MT.

2) Briere was not a bad signing, but it will be hard to see how he fits into the lineup. Taking a page out of Burke’s book, if he won’t be used in a top 6 role and on the PP, then he is ineffective. It will hard to see how he can fit in this season but he is still able to contribute in the clutch.

3) Markov and PK need to get back together. Rumour has it they don’t like seeing other people and wanna get back together, so our hearts will be mended soon, hopefully.

4) Our D situation is terrible. Some say we should call up a guy from the farm, but a rookie won’t fix what ails this team’s defence situation right away. If anything, they’ll struggle a bit this year. Better make room for them so they can start up with the big club next season.

5) The refs in the NHL are too inconsistent and they are pretty bad on too many nights. Let’s do away with the conspiracy theory BS that the league wants them to fix games, etc., etc. – that’s just nuts. Hockey is a fast game and it is hard to call, that’s why there are discrepancies between similar plays and infractions and the outcomes that follow. Refs are also just human and of course make mistakes, and from what I’ve seen from 24/7 and 24 CH the refs seem to be influenced by players’ reputations and stuff like that. For these reasons, refs need to be held accountable and taken to task more often. On top of that, we need a coaches’ challenge feature to review questionable calls.

It only proves that M T is biased in favor of his “pets” like DD and Bouillion. Briere at 35 is still a far better hockey player than DD and should have be given a lot more opportunities with decent line mates and on the PP. If Diaz plays tonight instead of Bouillion, probably Ottawa scores one less goal and the Habs win eh?

I admit I am not catching all the action especially lately but whenever I see him he looks strong. I trust when people say he is too slow, but what about Gorges waving at that guy on the 2nd goal as he pushed right past him. He would still be on the ice if it was Murray not Gorges

I don’t know about anyone else on here, but I have been saying it for a few years now and every year it seems to be getting worse.

The officiating is brutal and yes I know I have seen it in other games as well but if you look at the penalties that gets called against the Habs as opposed to the penalties the Habs get to go their way it is a 90%- 10% that goes against the Habs.

Then there is the ones that they really stick it to the Habs like the one tonight on PK. Honestly hoe many penalties do you see or have you seen go the Habs way like that. Honestly I can say this year none and you rarely see it given to then at any time. Earlier in that period Max Pac was hooked and the Ottawa player even let go his stick which is a clear give away that it was a penalty did it get called NO.

I can’t argue the fact with what PK said about it being personal. I honestly think that this league is corrupt and racist. The officials especially, they have no rules to govern them they get to do pretty much what they want without any fear of suspension or retribution unlike the players.

Chris Lee is the main official who definitely has a burr in his side when it comes to the Habs. I like that MT and Molson backed PK on his comments. Molson should be also lobbying to the league at the way his players especially Subban.

This game tonight was decided by the officiating. The other night in Carolina same thing refereeing kept giving penalties to the Habs until Carolina scored and kept giving it to the Habs until the game was tied and Carolina went ahead.

I would say so far this season out of 43 games played the officiating has had an affect on the scores of Habs games in about 10 of them. Which is a point swing of 0-20 points. Come playoff time that alone could be the difference in playing the playoffs or watching them.

PK is definetly being picked on, you can see it. They call a penalty on him point to the box with a stern look at him don’t bother to give him an explanation as to why. Just like after the game you can see PK speaking to the referee and he doesn’t even acknowledge PK.

What bothers me about PK is the constant hooking/slashing from behind when he blows by someone and is skating up the ice. Many times it causes turnovers and the refs don’t call anything. You should not be allowed to interfere against one of the best players in the league. At least the crap refs in the NBA are biased towards the stars (i.e, the guys that pay their salary).

I liked Briere with Pleks and Gionta tonight. Maybe MT should leave them together for awhile see how it goes. The second line is ok. The third line Galchenyuk and Eller is fine who should the third player be. IMO Bournival. Fourth line Moen, Prust, Bourque Size and could score the odd goal. Defence, Not even gonna go there!!

one thing i don’t like is that the team has to make a lot of sacrifices to get DD going.
the top center (pleks) doesn’t get the top wingers and plays an extremely defensive role.
the young guys like eller and chucky get bumped down. everyone not on his line loses PP time.
furthermore ghallager takes a hell of a beating while not increasing his stats because he is the one who makes things happen and draws most of the focus to him in front of the net.

Almost 5 minutes of PP time for DD tonight- wasted. How many times do we have to watch him give up the puck or have it taken from him before the opposition clears it end sends the Habs back to retrieve it in their own end?

Breaking up the Marky/Sooby pairing some time ago, now sitting Dizzy instead of Franky, and implementing the patented MT Magical Mystery MixMaster pairings pretty well ensured this wasn’t going to end well.

Who’d have thought Murray and Beersie would ignite the powerful forces of good to (almost) triumph over the Dark Side?

I wonder what hocus pocus MT has up his sleeve for the Cats of Monday?

I agree! Hate to ‘sound smart’ as RAM_TOUGH would say below but the HABS cannot keep addressing every ‘periodical’ waekness by playing musical chairs.

DDO is right.. start preparing your D pairings. It may mean bringing up Pateyrn or somebody.

In my opinion another glaring area that HABS should be working on now is a true ‘grinding’ line. I didnt see tonite’s game. Where did Prust play and how did he play. Time to get a plaer like Prust ‘motivated’ to be the main element of a true grinding line.

I think if Habs open up their offense… allow the kids to do their stuff… organize their D and build a true grinding line.. this team will do well in playoffs.

It’s time for the league to get rid of the whole ‘intended to blow the whistle’ thing. Either you did, or you didn’t. That circumstance should always go to video review. If the puck is viewable on the overhead angle showing that the whistle shouldn’t have blown, then it should be overruled and deemed a good goal.

Good effort tonight. Lots of speed but still too much perimeter play. It wasn’t until they started attacking the net did the puck start going in. I liked the way crankshaft played tonight. He looks like he takes ugly pills whenever he plays. We need more of that. Still way too easy pushing the little guys off into the corners. Everytime I watch I feel there’s something missing..excitement! Gally still needs to get going. Wonder how long its going to be before Yaks comes to Montreal? Now that would create some excitement and Gally would have his old buddy back. I’m waiting!

Gally has a good shot from the slot. I remember him scoring many like that last season. Problem now is he has to be the grinder/front of the net guy with DD and Max. DD is always looking for Max. Don’t expect the same production.

Forgot to mention the PP was terrible. Need to get at least one goal on five chances.

I think a lot of posters are concerned because this looked like a typical playoff-type loss. Even though the Habs outplay their opponents at times, they miss their chances while their opponents bury their fewer ones.

Habcertain, as much as complaining about bad reffing sounds like whining and making excuses, bad reffing tilts the odds in favour of the team getting the calls, and it can be a factor that affects the quality of the sport and the outcome of a game. So it is fair game to complain about it and be concerned about it, and also to note it as a relevant factor that handicapped the team tonight.

The constant whining about the refs and league is getting a little stale, there was a time when there was a familiar cry about bias towards the Habs, let’s give it a rest, the boys came back to tie a highly entertaining game ( sorry Matty, I do watch hockey to be entertained unlike the serious hockey pros like yourself), and didn’t give up.

Sorry Habcertain, some nights the Officials richly deserve to get called out and tonight is one of those nights. There is no way that the hockey game we watched tonight should have been decided the way that it was on such a terrible call.

There are definitely posters here who seem to think every call against the Habs is a bad call. There are plenty of nights that I think that the officials do fine or better. I still think that the call on P K was a horrible call, especially at that point in the game, behind the net and not in any way robbing the Ottawa player of a scoring opportunity. They let go far worse infractions throughout the 3rd period. I keep my own book on NHL officials and Francois St. Laurent is on my “trouble” list. He is a “C” official at best and probably only has a job because the NHL felt pressured to diversify so that 80% or more of its officials are not from Guelph, Ontario.

Big deal……..we have a point for me if we had played in the 1st & 2nd like we did in the 3rd we would have won the game but NO. I wonder after the game the other nite it was a good showing for a couple of players who will be asking for alot of money this year my opinion is that they will go for the top dollar……………. some have homes in U.S.A. ????????

I think we have to bring up Tinordi or Pateryn and sit Georges for the next game and maybe someone else for a game. Might as well see where they are are at against Florida and Philly. Have the vets fresh for Chicago.

To be fair, I think that Marc Joanette does a decent job on most nights. Since he came into the league, on the other hand, Mssr. St. Laurent seems to me to F the Habs like the hookers on the street that bears his name. I missed the first period, so I did not see the play, but I would bet dimes to dollars that he disallowed the Habs goal.

I know this won’t ease the pain, but, fyi, all I can hear in Loafland is crickets…went to Leaf Talk and to their site (where press conference is shown)…nothing but an mt room with a podium…did see someone quickly walk by the open door @ back of room.

For that all they need is a plausibly fair game. In other words they can’t have blatant incompetence or cheating (although Colin Campbell celebrating the Stanley Cup victory was … uncouth and ), but rigorous adherence to some sort of ethical code isn’t necessary.

Right now, refs are very comfortable making outrageous calls against us, see tonight and the Carolina “game”.

If they were called out on it, so it became a media story, someone in the front office would be fined heavily, but once it was “out there” in the media, the refs would have to be more careful, knowing that there would be more scrutinized about their calls.

It would absolutely help. We need it, honestly. Refs know they can bone us, and who will complain about it? CBC? TSN? NBC? Hardly, they hate us, and love it when we get screwed by the refs.

I do agree that the ownership of this team is way too passive given how much dough they generate for the league and send south of the border. What happened to the old adage “What is good for the Montreal Canadiens is good for the NHL?”

Great comments by Mark Dumont on his Eyes on the Prize Blog about tonights officiating:

“Montreal got another perfectly good goal disallowed tonight. It seems like that’s a recurring theme in all the Top Six Minutes.
Intent to blow. Let’s talk about that. It seems as if the referees definitely have the intent to blow most nights. It’s infuriating mostly because I haven’t managed to learn how to deal with it. I know they’re going to be terrible, yet I’m upset when they are. I think I might be insane.”

Agreed. I love hockey, but the inconsistency and at times seemingly biased officiating has eroded so much of the credibility and good will this league had once stockpiled. Tonight was a classic example of ineptitude.

Yeah, Price always gets a star, but I would have liked to see Murray get the 3rd star for his first two assists of the season. Oh, and I’ve stopped referring to the Habs by their numbers because the walrus has had his bucket of sardines and is off home to the aquarium.

Big deal……..we have a point for me if we had played in the 1st & 2nd like we did in the 3rd we would have won the game but NO. I wonder after the game the other nite it was a good showing for a couple of players who will be asking for alot of money this year my opinion is that they will go for the top dollar……………. some have homes in U.S.A. ????????

if you are referring to Patches and Subban, then they are not going anywhere, patches is signed through the 2018-2019 season and Subban is still a restricted free agent after this year…….He will sign for 7years $8m plus thanks to that idiot Nonis in TO.

Stupid ,really, to me its stupid for a guy watching his TV to think he knows what a guy on the ice can see, I have watched the replay, i think Markov screened him, but thats just My opinion, its not a fact, buy my Opinion

Price was weak? Sorry, I couldn’t disagree more. I’ll call a spade a spade. The second goal was stoppable. The first and third were beyond his control. As a percentage, you might get lucky and stop the shot and deflection 10% of the time. Re watch the overtime goal. He gets a piece of the puck. MacArthur puts that puck into a slot that is no more then 4×6 inches. You just tip your hat at those shots. Again, as I said earlier, if we are making a list of issues with the Canadiens, Price is just before the colour of the jersey.

good on the habs to come back.. about time briere and gio did something.
pleks can only do so much by himself.
too many bounces didn’t go our way. the boullion own goal, the 5 posts, the no goal, the second goal which should have been stopped
thems the breaks.. seem to happen against ottawa pretty often.